How to effectively promote your e-commerce business with video

By Andrew Maff |
Jan 22, 2019

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Andrew Maff is the Director of Marketing and Operations for Seller’s Choice, a full-service digital marketing agency for e-commerce sellers. Andrew is also a digital strategy and marketing expert with over a decade of experience improving the online presence of e-commerce sellers all over the world. In this guest post, he breaks down all the reasons why e-commerce marketers may not be using video in their content strategies – and why and how you most definitely should.

Video has become the most popular and effective form of digital marketing for e-commerce businesses. Despite its proven success, it’s still majorly underutilized by online retailers.

Implementing a strong video marketing campaign is one of the best things you can do for your online business this year. We’ll go through the common apprehensions about video, the proven benefits of a video strategy for online retailers, and how you can optimize your approach to promote your e-commerce store fast and furious.

Why retailers aren’t using video

1. Marketers assume there’s high competition with video.

Video has become a powerhouse, and small to mid-size businesses feel like they can’t compete with the large companies and their unlimited video production power. Why bother if someone else is going to do it better, right? Wrong! Competition is lower than it seems, and even one video can provide a major competitive advantage.

2. They believe video content is too complicated.

Video is a whole new beast that marketers have to learn. It requires a different type of storytelling, new equipment, unique methods of distribution, and even a new way of approaching direct or indirect sales. Some marketers feel complacent in their current marketing strategies because they’re working “just fine” and because they don’t want to get involved in the complexities of video.

3. They think going viral is the only way.

A lot of marketers wrongly assume that the return on video investment is only worth it if their video goes viral and reaches at least 1 million views. So if they feel they don’t have the skills or resources to make that happen, they’ll ignore video altogether. But going viral is definitely not the only way to see serious success with video. Video is proving to be a competitive advantage in and of itself, even without staggering view counts, or an army of followers.

4. They gasp at the cost.

Video can be expensive to make. You want to stamp your brand on only high-quality, professional videos—which take time, money, and resources to produce. You get what you put in. Video has proven to produce one of the highest returns on investment across all marketing strategies. Wibbitz makes it easy and cost-effective to make engaging videos in minutes.

Are some of these “reasons” why you haven’t implemented video in your content marketing thus far? If so, it’s time to overcome the “uncertainty” of video. You have so much more to gain than you have to lose by implementing a durable video strategy for your e-commerce business.

Why YOU should be using video

Video feels high-risk and high-cost. So is it worth it? Yes, definitely! And here’s why.

1. Retention

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then a video is worth 10,000. Most people are visual and/or auditory learners. That means they’re more likely to understand and remember information that’s delivered through a visually stimulating platform like video.

Video is also less effort for consumers than reading product descriptions or posts. Customers want something fast and easy to consume, which creates a deeper level of engagement. You can show off your product features, demonstrate your brand lifestyle, or provide relevant content that will both pique their interest and make them want more from your brand.

If you want people to remember your brand and product, a video is the most likely method to pull them in and help them recall you in the future.

2. Engagement

Video also helps you provide information about your product and brand in a short period of time. The average human attention span today is less than 8 seconds (which is less than that of a goldfish). It’s significantly easier to grab your audience’s attention through visual storytelling and video than it is through plain text. This works especially well if you utilize your brand story and tone to relate to your audience so they see the lifestyle your brand is associated with.

Video is also a strong way to stimulate an intense emotional response in your viewer. You can construct your video in a way that your viewers subconsciously associate certain feelings with your product or brand. If you make them laugh, they’ll have a positive association with your product. If you make them fearful about their pain point, they’ll have a sense of urgency when they think of your brand.

Video is the most effective way to build an instant emotional connection between consumer and brand, creating a strong foundation for a long-term relationship.

3. SEO

Search engines love video content. Video has a high chance of ranking on Google, especially if your competitors aren’t using video. Google understands the significance and weight of video for users, so they reward those businesses that are engaging through that medium. Amazon also loves video for its product listings, and product videos may even play a role in optimizing and winning the Buy Box.

Pro tip: Google owns YouTube. So videos shared on YouTube tend to rank higher on Google than those on other platforms.

4. Sharing

Videos are easily clickable. People are more likely to share videos than text pages, and they’re more likely to click on video thumbnails than links without multimedia. You can easily share a video on social media, in email campaigns, on your website, or on video-specific platforms.

This ease of sharing creates a social element to your video and your brand. It can improve your social proof and build a wider conversation surrounding your video. The more you share your video, the greater your brand awareness and exposure.

5. Impressions

Increased SEO, greater share-ability, and enhanced engagement all work to boost impressions. It’s easy to distribute your video across a wide variety of channels, and it’s even easier to get users to click on and share your video content. This creates more touchpoints and opportunities for impressions with your audience.

6. Conversions

Visitors are almost 85% more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it. Why does video boost conversion so much?

Retention is improved, so viewers are more likely to understand and remember what you’re selling.

They’re more engaged with the product features and brand story, which can create a more emotional response that is key to purchasing.

The video is likely to “touch” them more often than other forms of content, which improves brand awareness and encourages purchases.

Ultimately, videos increase your conversion rate. They’re proven to be one of the most successful aspects of web pages, landing pages, and social media. If you want to spend money on digital marketing, video content is proving the highest returns in terms of both first-time and repeat sales.

How to use video

So how can you employ a video strategy to boost brand awareness, enhance your engagement with prospects, and cultivate your conversion rate?

Below are the 5 most effective ways to promote your e-commerce business with video.

1. Product videos

One of the most popular uses of video is to show off product features and benefits. Video is an effective way to present a pain point and demonstrate how your product solves that problem for the consumer. You can fit a lot of information in a concise and direct way, which maintains the attention of the customer long enough to convince them to purchase.

You also have a visual platform to show off the features and benefits that are similar to being in a physical storefront. You can demonstrate how the features work, what the product looks and feels like, and how to use the product. This tells customers how the product could fit into or improve their lifestyle—and proving your product meets their pain point is at the core of selling.

Watch this product video that Little Bits made with Wibbitz to show off their Droid Inventor Kit:

2. Product comparisons

Video is also a great place to compare multiple products from your brand. Most customers will do product research before making a purchasing decision. Videos comparing products and features can augment their research, so they ensure they find the best product for their needs.

The best part about product comparison videos? You are usually comparing your own products, so they not only find the right product—the find the right product from your brand. It shows that you are considering and addressing your customers’ direct needs without inadvertently sending them over to your competitors. You give them a product to suit their needs while boosting your credibility in their eyes.

3. Testimonials

Social proof is key to e-commerce success. If people aren’t familiar with your brand already, they want to learn more about you. But they don’t want to hear about the benefits of your brand from your brand. They want to hear what your customers have to say about you.

In the e-commerce world, your brand can’t control most of its social reputation. Customers have control over the rating and stars of your product or business. You can work to generate positive reviews and minimize negative ones, but ultimately it’s in the hands of the consumer.

But video testimonials allow you to enhance your social proof in a methodical way. You can produce testimonial videos from high-quality clients talking about your business in a way that can contribute to your credibility.

There’s a caveat here, though. Some customers are wary of video testimonials because they know they’ve been edited and reworked. For transparency purposes, a lot of e-commerce businesses are utilizing user-generated video content to maintain a sense of authenticity.

Here’s a short testimonial video the Wibbitz marketing team created to promote our case study with BET:

4. Brand story

Videos are a great way to spread the message about your brand. People buy brands, not products. So you want prospective customers to know what you’re about. Who are you? What are your mission and purpose? What do you have to offer to your customers?

These kinds of brand-centric videos help consumers connect with you on a more personal level. This deepens engagement, which helps encourage purchases and build raving fans long-term.

5. Valuable content

Videos are a great way to provide genuine, quality content to your audience. The key purpose of content marketing is simply to provide so much value to your customer that they can’t get enough of you.

For example, you sell dog products. You could create dog training videos that teach viewers how to work with their dogs. The purpose is to show you are an expert in the dog world, build your brand credibility, and put you in the industry conversation. It also shows your brand lifestyle and tone to create that critical connection between consumer and company.

Providing this level of value engages your customer long-term, so you’ll be top of mind when they’re ready to make a purchase. Want some more inspiration for e-commerce marketing? Check out these 7 successful online retailer videos!

Here’s a great example from Wibbitz customer SimilarWeb – they may not sell dog products, but they do have a platform that gives access to data for such business, and a great Investor Solution product that they showed off through video:

Video is the most effective way to build brand awareness, connect with customers, and increase your conversion rate. If you’re looking for the highest possible return on your investment, video should be your first thought.